Lilac II : Blood
by Saif Reynolds
Summary: The sequel to 'Lilac', featuring the next generation of the Firefly crew. This story sees Ren seeking out the famous Malcolm Reynolds. But is she too late?
1. Chapter 1

The shipyard on Greenleaf was full of activity. Ships were being repaired while some were looking their best to attract passengers. Amongst the hustle and bustle wandered three weary travelers; two women and a man. The older of the women, Ren, scoured the ships with her bright green eyes, searching for one in particular. The man, Willem, held on tightly to the younger girl's hand. She wasn't much younger, him being 23, a year younger than Ren, and her 18. The girl was his half sister, Shyla. He promised their mother he'd look after her. It was his stepfather who had asked, but he never cared much for him and even refused to use his surname when his mother and he married He'd taken her out into the black three years ago. It was supposed to be just him and Ren, but his parents insisted he take her too so she could experience the 'verse.

"Any sign of it, Ren?" Willem called to his friend who had rushed ahead of them a bit.

"Not yet.. But we will find it," she replied, turning around to face them for a moment while still walking.

"We've been looking for it for three years. Have you noticed that we're back on Greenleaf?… where we started!"

Willem was exhausted from their travels. He didn't particularly want to leave in the first place, but Ren was determined to go - alone or not. Their reason for leaving everything behind was to dig up the past. Ren wanted to find her father. She'd never seen him since her mother had met him while onboard the ship they were searching for. She'd left soon after.

"Is that… Is that the ship!?" Ren hollered back to them.

Before either could answer her she dashed off towards it.

Standing in front of the boat were two young women. One was tall and tanned with her hands on her hips, pushing back her brown coat to reveal a piece on either side. Her dark hair, which fell to below her shoulders, was tied up but her fringe was in her eyes a little. She was young but looked like she was in charge. Next to her was a shorter woman with much paler skin. She wore a short, soft grey dress which showed her slender legs. Her wavy, black hair was gently tousled and stretched almost halfway down her back. She looked startled when Ren appeared in front of them.

"Is this a Firefly class?" She said, panting after running almost the length of the shipyard.

"Sure is," the taller smiled proudly. "You lookin' to come aboard?"

"Might be.." Ren had caught her breath. "You got room for three?" She nodded to Willem and Shyla who were walking over to them.

"Long as you can pay your way, Serenity'll take you."

Ren's eyes lit up at the mention of the ship's name, Serenity. She collected herself, not wanting to scare them.

"Yes, we can pay." She extended her hand. "I'm Ren Émile. This is Willem Addison and Shyla North."

The tall woman shook her hand. "Great. Name's Hoban Washburne. I'm the Captain of this ship. This here's Alice. Best pilot in the skies."

The shorter brunette, Alice, smiled and welcomed them. "I'd offer to help with your bags but you don't appear to have much. Light travelers?" She eyed them cautiously.

Willem looked at the little bags they each carried. "Well, we had more... Been off world for 'bout three years now. A lot of what we had was traded so we can be standing here today."

"Oh." Alice opened her mouth as if to say something further but rushed back onto the ship, hearing someone call her.

"Well, folks. C'mon board." Hoban gestured for them to enter the cargo bay. "Some of ours are leaving the ship so there'll be a few rooms freed up." She glanced around and called over a girl when she spotted her. "Skye, could you come here a minute?"

Skye came bouncing over, her light brown hair fluttering. "Yep, Cap'n?"

"Could you show our new passengers the way to their rooms?"

"No problem!" She chirped. "This way."

She led them through the cargo bay to the common area.

"The rooms are just around there. They're being cleared out a bit at the moment, folks packin' up to leave." She went quiet, looking a bit sad before perking back up. "Oh, silly me! I'm Skye Tam." She grinned widely.

The four turned their heads when they heard a loud _clang _fall down the stairs beside the infirmary.

"Sorry!" A female voice called, followed by the thudding of heavy boots. Another young woman, bearing some resemblance to Skye, appeared at the bottom of the stairs. She ducked down to pick up the tool she'd dropped, her rich brown hair falling across her face. She wore blue overalls, the top part down and tied around her waist, and a pink vest. Both were smudged with grease.

"Sorry, it got away from me" she waved the metal tool in her hand. "See we got some new passengers." She wiped her left palm across her clothes before holding it out to greet them. "Lee Tam".

The Tam sisters were a bit peculiar. Skye seemed to have inherited her mother Kaylee's spirit but wished to follow in her father's footsteps and be a great doctor. Whereas Lee, the mechanic, was a bit more reserved.

Ren and Shyla introduced themselves, but Willem remained silent.

"Hi…" Willem managed after some time. He took her hand gently. "I'm Willem.. Addison."

Lee smiled back shyly, "Nice to meet you."

Skye stood next to the two, rolling her eyes and sighing dramatically. "If you're quite done Sissy, you gotta get the engine back in a good state. 'Spose to be pickin' up a new doc on Paquin."

"I'm on it, I'm on it..." She muttered as she headed back up the stairs.

When Lee was out of sight, Skye stuck out her tongue at her. She was the most child-like on board, even at age 19. She definitely took after her mother. "Sorry, but I gotta go take care a somethin'. Ya'll be alright by yourselves. Rooms'll be free for you soon." She gave a little wave as she headed back out to the cargohold, leaving them to relax in the common area.


	2. Chapter 2

Dante Finn threw his grease-stained clothes into a bag, his eyes heavy with anger. It was all his brother's fault. Benjamin could never just live in the 'Verse without causing trouble for them. Dante and his twin sister, Kari, hated the Alliance as much as anyone for what they done to their father. The war drove him insane. Before his madness got to the point it did, their mother left them. She couldn't handle it anymore so she abandoned them. Left them in the capable hands of a mad man, a practical stranger to them by then. He'd done his best to impart the fear he had upon them, telling them brutal bedtime stories about rollers and mortars. Every bloody memory told to them as children. The stories did not mix well with their overactive imaginations and lead to countless sleepless nights. The crew of Serenity had been awoken many a night with screams from Kari or Dante. Benjamin always did prefer to suffer them. Take the dreams like a man. It's how his father would have wanted him to handle them. That was Benjamin's mindset, be a soldier in honour of him. He was prone to shows of Independent prowess. He was schooled in healing men, but spent more time flying around in a beat up shuttle trying to hurt folk of the Alliance persuasion. Not that he was a bad man, just a little over zealous in his quest for approval from a once revered soldier, now a madhouse resident.

It was Benjamin's stunts that landed him and his siblings in hot water with the Alliance. He'd gone one step too far when he programmed his shuttle to crash into an Alliance Intelligence HQ. Needless to say, they were not pleased. Since then they've had to keep on the move. That's how they had ended up on Serenity. The captain at the time, Mal Reynolds, knew their father from the war and welcomed them on board. Benjamin had earned his passage in the infirmary, working under Simon Tam as he was training his daughter. When Simon left to settle down landside with Kaylee the medical responsibilities were put in the hands of Benjamin and Skye.

Dante had worked in the engine room with Skye's older sister, Lee, while Kari cooked for the crew. She could do wonders with protein. They had become part of the family after spending two years on board, so the sadness on the ship was understandable. They had each grown close to people and would be leaving behind friends. Some abandoning love. Others forced to forget about the what-ifs.

They had decided it was time to leave after one too many intrusive searches from Purplebelly Feds. It was getting harder for the crew to find work since they tended to deal more in the dishonest type. Benjamin had made the choice, him being the oldest. The twins could have stayed, they were old enough to look after themselves being 21. And they weren't the wanted ones. But, family's gotta stick together.

Dante rolled up a shirt and stuffed it down the side of a bag, not caring to pack neatly. What was the point, most of his clothes were filthy anyhow. Kari, on the other hand, folded her clothes carefully and fit them into the bag properly. She had more patience for things like that than her twin. The two shared an adjoining room, while Benjamin had a single room across the way. It was good to keep those two together since they were the best at talking each other down after a bad nightmare.

Kari plopped down onto the bed and looked at her brother with concerned eyes.

"How do you feel about leaving?" Her question was already answered by his expression, but she was hoping to get some words from him.

"Probably the same way you do," he said abruptly. He stopped packing and stared up at her with the same hazel eyes she bore. They weren't so similar that you'd guess they were twins, but they did share a lot of the same features. The two had thick, dark brown hair, though Kari's was closer to black. Both had the same slender nose and eyes that still held a spark of life that neither had lost throughout years of restless nights.

"That bad, huh?" She pouted, thinking about her time on the ship. Her and Skye had become like sisters and now she had to leave her. Leave everyone. She wiped the beginning of a tear from her tired eyes and resumed packing. She could see her brother staring into thin air from the corner of her eye.

She sighed, turning to him, "Go. I'll finish your packing. If you don't do it, you'll regret it."

"I, uh,… what?" he looked a little taken aback. "Do what?"

"You're an awful liar… Just go…" She smiled.

He grinned widely and dropped what he was holding. "Thanks, sis. You're the best!" He rushed off out the door and headed to the cargobay.


	3. Chapter 3

Violet was traipsing after Neve through the shipyard, her heavy boots scuffing the sandy ground. They had left to pick up a few supplies, mostly protein and some new clothes for Violet. She'd torn up most of hers on their last job.

"Aww, c'mon. Just one wave.." she pleaded.

"No," Neve replied simply, stifling a laugh. "This was funny when we were younger, but I gotta tell ya, it's gettin' a mite creepsome."

Violet had been begging Neve to send a wave to her father, Jayne, for weeks at that point. She had developed a crush on him from a very young age when he and the old Serenity crew visited St. Alban's to return the body of a local boy, Tracey. She didn't really know him, but her parents knew his. She was there for the funeral and it was that day that she set her eyes on Jayne Cobb. She decided to follow in his footsteps, her never being all too ladylike to begin with. She'd worked as a mercenary for a few years before finally catching up with Serenity again. Needless to say, she was very excited to find that Jayne was still on board and even more so when she was offered a place in the crew. She'd become quick friends with Neve despite the seven year gap, Violet being 29.

Armed with the best 'puppy dog eyes' Violet could muster, she continued to pester Neve. "I swear, I won't say anything inappropriate this time..." She giggled softly, remembering his wife's reaction to the last wave. Jayne had just laughed.

"No," She drew the word out. "It's wrong. Plus you're a married woman now." She raised an eyebrow, knowing she'd win the argument. "C'mon, we gotta hurry. Folks gotta be leaving and we best help them on their way quickly."

Neve was among the majority sad to see the Finns go, but knew it was best for them to be on the move again. That and their work was getting scarcer and further out to the rim. That wasn't territory you wanted to stay out in for too long. She'd heard enough stories about Reavers from her father. He never was too good at bedtime stories and usually left them to her mother, Autumn.

As they approached the ship they gave a little wave to Hoban who was still at the mouth of the Firefly.

"We get any biters?" Neve called.

Hoban shifted her weight to her right leg, thumbs hooked in her trouser pockets. "Yeah, we got a few passengers. Then there's that doctor waiting for a pick up on Paquin."

"Shiny! I'm just gonna dump this stuff in the galley and I'll be right back." She sighed, gesturing to the 'food'. "This just ain't gonna taste right without Kari's cookin'." She shrugged her shoulders then headed into the ship.

"An' what did you get, Vi?" Hoban turned her attention to Violet.

"Just some pretties. Mine got a mighty fine rippin', as I'm sure you remember.."

Hoban chuckled, "That I do.." Violet started for the cargobay when she added. "Oh, your husband's been looking for you."

"I must be in trouble." Violet widened her eyes in fake terror then gave a little laugh. "I'll see ya.."

Everyone was so adamant for her not to forget she was married. The ceremony had only been a week ago, she hadn't forgotten already. She supposed they just didn't want her to stray, seeing as how monogamy had never been one of her strong traits. She made her way through the cargobay and the common room, towards her and Keaton's room. She stopped when she spotted the new faces.

"Hey all. Take it you're the newbies." She smiled, "Violet Alkatra."Alkatra was her maiden name. She didn't give it up for his surname, Ritter. She wasn't the type to.

The three said their hellos and gave a quick introduction. They sensed Violet was just being courteous but her concentration was elsewhere.

"It was nice to meet you. Look forward to flying wi' ya." She nodded then rushed to her room. She knew Keaton wanted to see her, but never asked where he was. She thought she should go find him, or else there might be more trouble. She couldn't help but think the worst. It was rare that Keaton wanted to talk. Or at least, rare that he sought her out to talk. She bit her lip in thought as she pulled off her frayed vest and dropped it to the floor. The dust that came off it on impact was evidence alone that her shopping had been quite necessary. She was never one to focus on appearance but she figured it was time to buy some new clothes when the old ones had begun to disintegrate. She emptied out the contents of her bag onto the bed and looked, with a perplexed expression, at what she'd bought. Neve wasn't the most 'girly girl' on Serenity either, but she'd somehow slipped something baby blue and frilly into her purchases. She could only guess her reasoning behind it, 'you have a husband now.'

She collapsed onto the bed, head in her hands. "Till death do us part..." she murmured. Startled by a knock at the door, she looked up quickly.


End file.
